Grounds and Facilities
Atlantic College is located at St Donat's Castle, a 12th-century castle near the town of Llantwit Major on the South Wales coast, overlooking the Bristol Channel. The castle has been continuously inhabited since it was first built. The extensive grounds also include the 12th-century St Donat's Church and the historic terraced gardens, as well as preserved woodland, farmland and heritage coastline. St Donat's Castle is the impressive main building of the College, housing the Tudor Great Hall, the Gothic Dining Hall, the Bradenstoke Hall used for assemblies and performances, an extensive 25,000-book Library, staff offices, student common areas and certain academic departments such as History, Economics and Theory of Knowledge.
Students live in seven accommodation houses named after either ancient Welsh kingdoms or benefactors to the college: Pentti Kouri — Morgannwg — Powys — Gwynedd — Whitaker — Tice — Sunley.
Lessons take place in modern academic blocks built in the 1960s–80s, converted Medieval estate buildings, and the castle itself. Next to the castle are the Social / Gymnasium blocks and the 12th-century tithe barn (used by the college and open to the public as a theatre, Arts Centre and cinema). This building with its contemporary glazed extension by notable local architect Chris Loyn, has received much praise in the UK architectural community as well as from groups interested in building conservation. The college owns sports fields, tennis courts, and in addition to indoor and outdoor swimming pools have a range of surf and rescue equipment, kayaks, sailing boats, RNLI training boats, and a cliff suitable for climbing and rescue practice.
In 2004, the college installed a carbon neutral biomass heating system to replace an aging and unsustainable oil based system. It runs on locally sourced sustainable woodchip biomass, and makes the campus the largest site in the UK to be heated in such a way.
The earliest to be built student house, Pentti Kouri (formerly Dyfed), was refurbished in the autumn of 2008 to include technologies such as geothermal heating and an energy usage monitoring system to lessen its impact on the environment. If the renovation proves successful at reducing the environmental impact, while being comfortable to live in, the other older houses may also be so renovated over a period of years.
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